Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Ft. Laramie

I visited Ft. Laramie in eastern Wyoming. This historic fort is operated and maintained by the National Park Service. It has been restored to what it would have looked like in the 1880's. Not all of the buildings have been restored. Some of the former buildings are identified only by their stone foundations. The heavily deteriorating buildings were thoroughly researched by architectural historians and the strongest structures were picked for restoration. The building pictured above housed the prison cells in the basement. Solitary confinement was scary!!

This is Old Bedlam. It has been beautifully restored. The Burt house on officer's row is another nicely restored building.

Ft. Laramie was built along the Platte River in southeastern Wyoming. It was staffed by the U.S. military whose task was to protect the pioneers as they made their way west along the wagon trails. The fort was active during the years of the westward movement but when the railroad came into use and people were not crossing the land via covered wagon, the fort closed its operations. The buildings were abandoned and fell into ruin until the property was deeded over to the National Park Service. Thanks, NPS!! 100 years this year!